A client approached us earlier this year because we've had a lot of success helping partnerships resolve some really tough situations.

Partnerships always start out with a lot of goodwill. It's intoxicating. No wonder so many of them end in wrecks.

The best way to solve most partnership issues is when you're negotiating the original agreement. That hadn't happened in this client's case. Like most partnerships, the balance of the five owners had shifted over time and there was disagreement over whether to add a sixth member - a young woman who was being approached by their leading competitor.

We've worked in and with enough partnerships to be able to tell almost immediately whether a situation is salvageable. We were certain this one was.

First we asked the partner who contacted us to talk about the business and the ownership structure, but to avoid describing any personal difficulties they were having with each other. Objectivity is our most valuable asset, and nothing dilutes objectivity like first impressions.

Among the documents we asked for was a short definition of the business's purpose. This is different from what it does. Then we interviewed the other four principals, encouraging them to talk openly about the company, each other and - especially - themselves. The last of these is critical. You can't solve partnership issues through intellectual analysis alone.

We asked each partner to send us - confidentially - their perfect outcome. In each case, the answers we got back included the brilliant employee staying and ultimately becoming a shareholder. Some talked about the long term strategy of the business. Some did not.

Before we put together a recommendation, we asked to meet four key members of staff - including the woman in question. It became obvious very quickly that the employees regarded the partnership as a closed shop. The young woman liked working here a lot, but had realized that if she was ever going to create value for herself, she would have to join a company in which the ownership structure was aspirational.

When we met with the five principals, our recommendation focused not on their ongoing dispute, but on the fact that they were all effectively trapped by their current structure. We believed it was highly unlikely any of them would ever leave with serious value.

Instead, we encouraged them to adopt a business model that had a strategy for value creation, and then to refine their partnership structure to allow for various levels of ownership. Lastly, we recommended an internal pricing mechanism for the company's equity.

Ultimately, they agreed and offered their talented employee an interest in the company. They have also identified three others they intend to include by the end of the year.

Partnership is a means to an end. Not an end to itself. When viewed through that lens, it becomes a powerful business tool.